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Willie Kirk has been appointed head coach of Women’s Super League 2 side Durham, two years after he was <\/b>sacked by Leicester City Women’s team<\/b><\/a> for having a relationship with a player.<\/b><\/p>\n The 48-year-old was dismissed in March 2024 following an internal investigation that found he was in a physical relationship with a player, breaching the club’s code of conduct.<\/p>\n Player-coach relationships are not illegal – as long as no minors are involved – with Kirk returning for the first time to English football.<\/p>\n Durham’s statement made no mention of his dismissal from Leicester City.<\/p>\n Codes of conduct among players and managers are a condition of clubs getting a WSL licence, and every club must have a safeguarding officer in place.<\/p>\n BBC Sport has reached out to Durham for comment about the appointment and to the Football Association (FA) and Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA).<\/p>\n Personal relationships between players and coaches in women’s football have been criticised for potentially creating a power imbalance in a squad and putting young women at risk.<\/p>\n England manager Sarina Wiegman has described them as “very inappropriate” and “not healthy”.<\/p>\n A year on from being sacked, Kirk called for a second chance,<\/a> revealing he was yet to receive an interview after applying for every WSL and English women’s second-division vacancy apart from Arsenal and Manchester City.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n